We all have to deal with elements of our lives that are out of our control, such as the illness or death of a loved one, our own chronic pain or critical illness, the choices of others that negatively affect our lives or the consequences of our own wrong choices (hence, that's where prevention comes in handy!), a job, a boss, or a co-worker we can't stand or who makes our life miserable, an accident, the loss of a job, financial problems, or whatever else it may be...
The fact is: bad things happen to everybody. No one is immune! While we can't control some of those things however, we can control the way we react to them with a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA). Mental attitude is the difference between feeling like a victim and wallowing in it or making the best of your negative experiences.
Let's face it: we can all get drunk or dive into some type of drug to avoid dealing with the pain. However, numbness doesn't provide the answer and becoming addicted is not worth the risk. We can also spend the rest of our lives feeling sorry for ourselves and ruining our opportunity to find the happiness we deserve, but why would you allow something that happened in the past to destroy your present or future? You only have one shot at this life, and while this life is short, it seems like it is never ending when you're miserable!
A positive mental attitude is the best way to ride the tide. Make the best of the situation, no matter what the situation is. I am not going to tell you that I have always done that, because like most people, I have given in to depression when I have faced adversity. For instance, it took decades to get over my father passing away on my 18th birthday and I allowed events from my childhood to ruin my first marriage. What a waste of years and happiness that was! Worse yet, it affected other people! Once you understand that you can't move forward looking backwards, you simply stop looking backwards.
When I finally learned that lesson, I reacted differently. One example of that is when my 14 year-old ran away a few years ago. I could have fallen into depression again, but instead, I took a second job to stay busy in the evenings and weekends. I would come home between 10:30 and 11:00 pm and would cry myself to sleep. Then it was time to get up and go to work again. Likewise, I could have been depressed for the past several years, as I have been unable to find full-time employment, but I decided to use that spare time to write a 440-page book. You see, you can make lemonade out of a lemon, and in the end, you are stronger for it!
by Joelle Osias, MBA
President and CEO, Osias International, LLC
Author of Get the Life You Deserve
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